For the first time in eight tries, Mexico finally got the better of the U.S. men’s national team, beating its biggest rival 2-0 in Tuesday’s friendly match in Guadalajara.
Raúl Jiménez’s sensational first half free kick was the difference between the squads, which met for the second and final time this year in a rare exhibition match south of the border. Cesar Huerta doubled El Tri’s advantage early in the second half, and the hosts never looked back against an American side missing star forward Christian Pulisic and several other starters.
El Tri’s triumph over the USMNT was the first since 2019, the longest winless streak in the series’ 87-year history. The loss was the first for new U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino in his second game at the helm. It came three days after the Argentine coach won his debut over Panama in Austin, Texas.
Here are a few quick takeaways from Tuesday’s contest.
Play of the game
The U.S. back line knew Jiménez intimately; the veteran target striker plays with Antonee “Jedi” Robinson at Premier League Fulham. American captain Tim Ream was a teammate of both there last year.
But Ream and Robinson were powerless to stop the 33-year-old’s curling screamer, which came after what U.S. players contended was a soft foul by Aidan Morris on Mexican winger Roberto Alvarado. Either way, there was no arguing with the quality of Jiménez’s 30-yard effort that beat Matt Turner clean and settled into the top corner of the U.S. keeper’s net.
Turning point
Even with almost an entire half of the match still to play, Huerta’s strike effectively killed the game off then and there:
Truth be told though, the odds were always stacked against the Americans in this one. Their historic unbeaten streak was never going to last forever, least of all in Mexico, where the U.S. now has an all-time record of 1W-24L-4T.
And it was always unlikely to continue with more than half of Pochettino’s strongest possible lineup missing because of injuries or, in the case of Pulisic, load management. In addition to Pulisic, the Americans were also without Tyler Adams, Folarin Balogun, Sergiño Dest, Gio Reyna, Weston McKennie, Mark McKenzie (who was injured in the warmup and replaced by Miles Robinson) Chris Richards and Tim Weah.
Key stat
Mexico dominated from start to finish. But the most damning stat for the USMNT wasn’t that they gave up 15 shots to El Tri, or that the hosts had more of the ball despite leading for 68 of the 90 minutes.
No, the biggest sin was managing exactly zero shots on El Tri‘s goal until U.S. striker Brandon Vazquez forced a fine save from home keeper Luis Malagón in the 79th minute.
What’s next for Mexico?
On Nov. 14 and 18 El Tri will play an opponent to be determined — probably Honduras, though it will come down to the next Concacaf ranking — in the two-leg, home-and-home Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals.
What’s next for the United States?
The Americans will also be on Nations League duty next month — the first competitive games under Pochettino — as they begin their quest for a fourth consecutive title. As it stands today, Jamaica is their likeliest foe.
Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports. A former staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports, he has covered U.S. men’s and women’s national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him @ByDougMcIntyre.
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